Hope Road

Persecution, Faithfulness, and Grace

Tonight I was humbled when I read about continued religious persecution in India on Persecution Blog. One of the two stories is extra poignant for me.

Seven young women from Gospel for Asia Bible college were “sharing the love of Christ.” Then a government official began to argue with them. He confined them to one room for almost four hours, called in journalists to take pictures of them, and forced them to write a statement saying they were spreading Christianity.

Three elements from the story stood out to me:

1. The young women are students at a Bible college. I am a student at a Christian university. How similar, yet how different, our situations are.
2. These precious sisters were sharing the love of Christ in a hostile region. Where I live, the environment is mostly safe and comfortable. Am I still taking the risk of sharing Jesus?
3. For evangelizing, the women were imprisoned, albeit briefly. They were granted the great honor of suffering for Christ. I wonder how I would respond.

I have to be honest. As I’m writing this entry, I am feeling incredibly frustrated. This week, I’ve gotten very little sleep. And the people who live in the apartment above us have chosen tonight to move furniture / walk around in high heels / see who can stomp the loudest. While I’ve been writing about persecuted Christians on the other side of the world, I’m fighting an angry heart towards people nearby.

I know the timing isn’t accidental. If I want to be faithful in the big things, I need to be faithful in the little things now. Do I ever need grace for a changed heart and a steady obedience.

Tags: anger, Christianity, college, evangelism, faithfulness, forgiveness, Gospel for Asia, grace, imprisonment, India, Persecuted Church, Voice of the Martyrs

A Taste of Suffering

This past weekend I was sick with strep throat. It was probably the sickest I ever remember being. I was sick to my stomach all day Saturday too, and I was on an IV for dehydration and got shots for nausea. It was so much fun. (Sorry if that was too much information for you!) That’s why you haven’t heard from me lately.

But my point isn’t for you to feel a moment of sympathy for my tragic illness. Rather, I wanted to share a little lesson I learned. Saturday was a very hard day. If you’ve had the stomach flu for any length of time, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It got to the point where I could never rest easily, where even a sip of water or a pill wouldn’t stay down, and where I could hardly stand up. Thankfully, it only lasted for a day.

And while I was experiencing this, I thought about a couple of ladies from my church who have been dealing with cancer. I thought of one in particular, since I know more about her situation and she’s been dealing with it for longer. She’s not much older than I am, she has a husband and a two-year-old daughter, and she is about to start another six months of chemotherapy. Her faith and testimony have not only remained, but have grown by leaps and bounds during this time in her life. What a witness to the faithfulness and sovereignty of God in the most unwanted of circumstances.

I can’t even imagine going through almost a year of feeling as bad or worse than I did on Saturday, and remaining so steadfast. I know it sounds cliche, but how dare I complain about anything in my life - how can I question His sovereignty when His other children are facing suffering so severe they can barely get through moment by moment? And I know it’s not even just cancer patients who are suffering, but parents who have lost children, children losing parents, poverty, hunger, persecution, abandonment, abuse, depression, and an unimaginably endless list.

Their God is my God too. He is as faithful in my moments as He is in theirs.

Tags: cancer, faithfulness, sickness